MXTV Microsoft Voice TV VUI
This UX project was from 2018. I was tasked with the challenge to utilize Microsoft products to design a voice recognition smart television system. Decided to think outside the box and make something useful for more than just entertaining. A personal assistant if needed.
Role:
Personal Project
Skills:
XD, Photoshop, Illustrator, AfterEffects, Premier, XMind, PowerPoint, Word, Google Docs
Challenge
Functionality: Create a multimodal voice activated system for the Microsoft TV using existing Microsoft products. Research shows that 40% of Adults already use a voice activation system and there is a market for it. Microsoft is looking to expand its Voice activated TV into the conversational home in a multifaceted function. People want a more personalized interface that is more organic and interactive.
Solution
For the early adopter of technology MXTV will be more than a TV that finds great entertainment. It will make life easier by being a personalized home assistant. It can respond to individual voices and simple hand gestures. It has a multiple user interface and includes parental controls. It connects to smart appliances, interacts with workout routines, provides reminders for appointments and shopping lists. The complex commands function can help with bedtime routines or secure your home while you are away. The possibilities are numerous. It is designed to utilize many of Microsoft’s technologies to accomplish these tasks.
Research
Commands:
More complex commands involving multiple actions. Touch interaction will help with inclusivity for accessibility. Research indicates users want to use secure payment options for shopping in more than 20% of voice-based orders. Voice-based shopping is expected to jump to $40 billion in 2022.
https://quoracreative.com/article/voice-search-statistics-trends
The Market:
I was surprised to find that originally 40% of Adults already use a voice activation system. That was a year ago, now the number has grown to 60%. The Echo Dot was crowned as the best-selling product on Amazon in the 2018 holiday season. By 2024, the global voice-based smart speaker market could be worth $30 billion.
https://www.emarketer.com/content/us-voice-assistant-users-2019
The System Interface:
Accounts:
The demand is for a more personalized interface. People want more contextual responses that are organic in nature.There is a need for multiple users and recognizing individual voices. 55% of teenagers are already using voice search on a daily basis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqAu-DDlINs&feature=emb_logo
This funny video is an example of a failed voice recognition interface and how important diversity sensitivity is.
Research Conclusion
Microsoft has a unique opportunity to position themselves as a leader by utilizing its existing technologies. The ones out in the market are generally limited to one user and are for entertainment and basic information retrieval. The system should have the capability of more than one user with parental controls and can recognize various voices and wake words. It needs to have a natural, conversational tone and provide an answer in a context. Additionally, it needs to be more than a TV and integrate with smart devices in a home. It needs to meet these demands of the future user.
Understand
With voice activation systems, the personas need to address both the user and the system. I decided on a user persona that had multiple members in one household with children to demonstrate the use of the system for multiple accounts and parental controls. Microsoft has worked years on creating Cortana’s personality and that is reflected in the system persona.
Personas
Explore
Onboarding
This map is a demonstration of how to onboard a user with his smart devices and adding a child user with parental controls.
Mulitmodel
This is a system that utilizes many of Microsoft’s technologies.
Kinect – motion sensory
Surface – touch sensory
Smart wall – motion and touch
Cortana – voice activation
Smart Appliances & devices – Smart phones, thermostat, coffee maker, lights, shades, sprinklers etc.,
The “Happy Path.”
A complex command is up to the user. It can be a Morning Mode that wakes you up with smart shades, coffee and music, or a Relax Mode of dimming lights and soft music. These are customized to what the user needs it to be.
Complex Command Vacation Mode Example
I created a script that would cover what it would look like to set up one of the complex commands going down “The Happy Path.” In this particular script the user is going out of town and wants Cortana to use the Vacation Mode. It shows the user learning from Cortana how to set up a command with prompts that provide system data necessary to understand the request and create
Materialize
In this video you will see
A demonstration of macro commands (complex commands) i.e. morning mode, night mode and daily routine.
Sense motion and track calories.
Personalized multiple accounts by voice, wake words, home screens and light and dark themes.
Cortana helps parents control screen time and protect their children from harmful content.
Reflection
There is a limit on technology resources in the classroom. In the future with a real project, I would do more Wizard of Oz Testing and a Table Ready video.